Clayton Kershaw Posting Incredible Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio

The Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw has walked only five batters all season.CreditCreditMark J. Terrill/Associated Press

By Victor Mather

June 2, 2016

The Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw walked Yangervis Solarte of the San Diego Padres on opening day, April 4. Kershaw walked another batter April 9 and another on April 21.

Jumping ahead a month, Kershaw walked a guy May 12 and someone else on May 23.

That’s it. Clayton Kershaw has walked five batters so far this season.

Kershaw has given up no more than one walk in any of his 11 starts. He has had six games with no walks at all.

On Sunday, Kershaw became the first pitcher in the majors with 100 strikeouts, reaching 105 in a win over the Mets at Citi Field. That’s 105 strikeouts and five walks.

Cy Young’s best strikeout-to-walk ratio in a single season was 6.9. Pedro Martinez and Greg Maddux reached 8.9. Curt Schilling topped out at 9.6 and Bret Saberhagen peaked at 11.0. The best mark for a pitcher with at least 100 strikeouts in a season belongs to Phil Hughes, who registered an 11.6 with the Twins in 2014.

For now, Kershaw’s strikeout-to-walk ratio is 21.

At 28, Kershaw’s control numbers keep improving. His rookie year in 2008, his ratio was a pedestrian 1.9. In his first Cy Young Award season, 2011, it was 4.6. Two years ago it was 7.7. Now he is striking out 21 batters for each one he walks.

There is a trend in baseball toward better and better strikeout-to-walk ratios. Most of the greats of the past had ratios that seem unimpressive today. Walter Johnson’s best was 6.4. Whitey Ford’s was 3.4, Jim Palmer’s was 2.6. The trend has been driven by a dramatic increase in strikeouts in recent times.

But Kershaw’s improvement has come primarily on the walk side. He averages 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings, down slightly from last year’s league-leading 11.6. He trails Jose Fernandez (12.8) of the Marlins, among others.

Kershaw’s previous low in walks per nine innings was 1.4 in 2014. This year he is at 0.5. That means he walks a batter roughly every other game. The next best in the majors is about double that, Josh Tomlin of the Indians at 1.0

These mind-boggling statistics are part of a sensational season across the board for Kershaw, who in this year of great starters like Jake Arrieta, Noah Syndergaard and Stephen Strasburg, leads the majors in innings pitched, walks plus hits per inning pitched, complete games, shutouts, strikeouts, E.R.A. and a host of advanced statistics.

He is scheduled to pitch again on Saturday against the Braves.

To find pitchers who approach Kershaw’s walk numbers, you have to go back to the dawn of baseball, when it took nine balls, not four, before a batter got a free base. Candy Cummings is credited with inventing the curveball, and he used it to good effect in 1875 pitching for the Hartford Dark Blues of the National Association. His record was a stellar 35-12, and he walked just four batters all season while leading the league in strikeouts with 82.

But even the inventor of the curveball could not match Kershaw. Cummings’s strikeout-to-walk ratio was only 20.5.

A version of this article appears in print on , Section B, Page 13 of the New York edition with the headline: Don’t Expect a Free Pass From Kershaw. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe